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The United States and its partners continue to face a
growing number of global threats and challenges. The CIA’s mission
includes collecting and analyzing information about high priority
national security issues such as international terrorism, the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber attacks,
international organized crime and narcotics trafficking, regional
conflicts, counterintelligence threats, and the effects of environmental
and natural disasters.

These challenges are international in scope and are priorities for
the Central Intelligence Agency. If you have information about these or
other national security challenges, please provide it through our secure
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confidential. The CIA is particularly interested in information about
imminent or planned terrorist attacks. In cases where an imminent
threat exists, immediately contact your local law enforcement agencies
and provide them with the threat information.

Factbook photos - obtained from a variety of sources - are in the public domain and are copyright free. Agency Copyright Notice

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The hallway leading to the Dome of the Rock in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

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The Dome of the Rock, located on Haram al-Sharif (also known as the Temple Mount), in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

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Factbook photos - obtained from a variety of sources - are in the public domain and are copyright free. Agency Copyright Notice

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The Dome of the Rock, located on Haram al-Sharif (also known as the Temple Mount), in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

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Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the site traditionally identified as the tomb of Christ, in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

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The dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

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A nighttime view of Jerusalem and Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, taken from the Mount of Olives.

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A Bedouin encampment on the road to Jericho from Jerusalem. Bedouins are constantly on the move to feed and water their herds.

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Commonly known as "the oldest city in the world," Jericho is an important historical, cultural, and political center located northwest of the Dead Sea. The city is perhaps best known from the Biblical story of a great victory over its Canaanite citizens by the Israelite leader Joshua. In the story, the walls of the heavily fortified city were destroyed with divine assistance (ca. 1400 B.C.). The site of ancient Jericho, known today as Tell es-Sultan, has been the focus of several archaeological excavations to investigate the Biblical story. The original settlement was built on a hill, or "tell." The results of these excavations suggest that the walls of Tell es-Sultan have been built and rebuilt many times, due mainly to collapse caused by earthquakes, which are common in the region. One of these events may be the basis for the story of Joshua. Modern-day Jericho is a popular tourist destination due to its pleasant climate, historical sites, and religious significance. This photograph shows the city center and the original settlement mound of Tell es-Sultan. Total distance across the image is approximately 8 km (5 mi). Two large refugee camps are located to the northwest and south of the city center. The high building density of the refugee camps contrasts sharply with the more open city center and irrigated fields (green polygonal patches) of Jericho, and illustrates one of the physical consequences of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the region. Photo courtesy of NASA.

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Introduction :: WEST BANK

From the early 16th century through 1917, the area now known as the West Bank fell under Ottoman rule. Following World War I, the Allied powers (France, UK, Russia) allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine. After World War II, the UN passed a resolution to establish two states within the Mandate, and designated a territory including what is now known as the West Bank as part of the proposed Arab state. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the area was captured by Transjordan (later renamed Jordan). Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950. In June 1967, Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. With the exception of East Jerusalem, roughly 60% of the West Bank remains under Israeli military control. Israel transferred security and civilian responsibility for a number of Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under a series of agreements signed between 1993 and 1999, the so-called “Oslo Accords.” Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip stalled after the outbreak of an intifada in mid-2000. In early 2003, the "Quartet" of the US, EU, UN, and Russia, presented a roadmap to a final peace settlement by 2005, calling for two states - Israel and a democratic Palestine.

Following Palestinian leader Yassir ARAFAT's death in late 2004 and the subsequent election of Mahmud ABBAS (head of the Fatah political faction) as PA president, Israel and the Palestinians agreed to move the peace process forward. Israel in late 2005 unilaterally withdrew all of its settlers and soldiers, dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip, and redeployed its military from several West Bank settlements, but it continues to control maritime, airspace, and other access. In early 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won the Palestinian Legislative Council election and took control of the PA government. Attempts to form a unity government failed, and violent clashes between Fatah and HAMAS supporters ensued, culminating in HAMAS's violent seizure of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip. Fatah and HAMAS have made several attempts at reconciliation, but the factions have been unable to implement details on governance and security. In an attempt to reenergize peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, France in June 2016 hosted a ministerial meeting that included participants from 29 countries, although not Israel or the Palestinians, to lay the groundwork for an envisioned "multilateral peace conference" later in the year.

Geography :: WEST BANK

note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967

Palestinian settlements are primarily located in the central to western half of the territory; Jewish settlements are found in pockets throughout, particularly in the northeast, north-central, and around Jerusalem

landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are about 380 Israeli civilian sites, including about 213 settlements and 132 small outpost communities in the West Bank and 35 sites in East Jerusalem (2017)

A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.

For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.

Palestinian settlements are primarily located in the central to western half of the territory; Jewish settlements are found in pockets throughout, particularly in the northeast, north-central, and around Jerusalem

Government :: WEST BANK

etymology: name refers to the location of the region - occupied and administered by Jordan after 1948 - that fell on the far side (west bank) of the Jordan River in relation to Jordan proper; the designation was retained following the 1967 Six-Day War and the subsequent changes in government

Economy :: WEST BANK

In 2017, the economic outlook in the West Bank - the larger of the two areas comprising the Palestinian Territories – remained fragile, as security concerns and political friction slowed economic growth. Unemployment in the West Bank remained high at 19.0% in the third quarter of 2017, only slightly better than 19.6% at the same point in the previous year, while the labor force participation rate remained flat, year-on-year.

Longstanding Israeli restrictions on imports, exports, and movement continue to disrupt labor and trade flows and the territory’s industrial capacity, and constrain private sector development. The PA’s budget benefited from an effort to improve tax collection, coupled with lower spending in 2017, but the PA for the foreseeable future will continue to rely heavily on donor aid for its budgetary needs and infrastructure development.

general assessment: continuing political and economic instability has impeded liberalization of the telecommunications industry

domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed-line services; two Palestinian cellular providers, JAWWAL and WATANIYA MOBILE, launched 3G mobile networks in the West Bank in January 2018 after Israel lifted its ban; Israel had witheld frequencies for Palestinians for 12 years (2004-2015)

Terrorism :: WEST BANK

aim(s): drive the Israeli military and Jewish settlers from the West Bank, impel Israelis to leave Jerusalem and, ultimately, establish a Palestinian state comprising the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem

area(s) of operation: headquartered in the West Bank, where AAMB is operationally active targeting Israeli soldiers and Israeli civilians living in Jewish settlements in the West Bank; estimated in 2015 to have a few hundred members, who operate in small decentralized cells, with each cell reporting to a local leader

aim(s): enhance its networks in the West Bank and, ultimately, establish an Islamic caliphate

area(s) of operation: maintains a limited operational presence

HAMAS:

aim(s): bolster recruitment networks in the West Bank and, ultimately, destroy the state of Israel

area(s) of operation: actively recruits youths and grooms young school children to embrace the group's ideology; in late 2016, an Islamic faction identified with HAMAS was known to recruit at the al-Quds University in Abu Dis, a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate bordering Israeli-controlled Jerusalem

area(s) of operation: present in West Bank Jewish settlements, especially the Qiryat Arba' settlement in Hebron, where operatives have previously conducted bombings and shootings against Muslim and Christian Palestinians; considered to be operationally inactive in recent years

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ):

aim(s): create an Islamic state in all of historic Palestine as defined by the British Mandate, which includes the West Bank

area(s) of operation: maintains a limited operational presence

Palestine Liberation Front (PLF):

aim(s): enhance its networks in the West Bank and, ultimately, destroy the state of Israel and establish a secular, Marxist Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital

area(s) of operation: maintains a recruitment and limited training presence in some of the West Bank's refugee camps

Transnational Issues :: WEST BANK

the current status of the West Bank is subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew from Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank in August 2005; since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region

IDPs: 193,000 (includes persons displaced within the Gaza strip due to the intensification of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since June 2014 and other Palestinian IDPs in the Gaza Strip and West Bank who fled as long ago as 1967, although confirmed cumulative data do not go back beyond 2006) (2016)